Psalm 23

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside quiet waters."  Psalm 23:1-2

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar and loved Psalms.  It is a Psalm which you and I probably memorized as a young child.  One wonders sometimes if we have become so familiar with the words of the Psalm, however, that we do not fully delight in the implications of the Psalm's truths and promises.

Psalm 23:1 says,"The Lord is my Shepherd.  I shall not be in want."  Sheep are unintelligent, dirty, and defenseless.  They are in need of a shepherd for protection.  The Lord says that we are like sheep, but He is willing to be our Shepherd of protection.  He is willing to lead us through this life and to eternity!  "The Lord is MY Shepherd!"  As a child of God He is your Shepherd also!

In Biblical times the sheep were lead not driven.  They listened for the shepherd's voice, and they followed him.  So you and I must follow the Great Shepherd's voice in His Holy Word.  The Lord must be most important in our lives, and we must follow Him.  He must be our Shepherd in every area and activity of our lives.  All of our lives must be under His direction and control.  If we allow Him to control our lives, Psalm 23:1 tells us that we "shall not be in want."  He will provide for all of our needs, if we trust Him.

Psalm 23:2 says, "He makes me lie down in green pastures."  When you or I get too involved with our busy lives or lose sight of our passion to serve the Lord, He will intervene in our lives.
He will use some event or circumstance to compel us to rest in Him.  He wants us to rest secure and content in Him.

Green pastures in Psalm 23 are a metaphor for abundant life or for all that makes life flourish. Some of the circumstances the Lord allows in our lives may not seem like green pastures.  They seem more like brown dried up pastures.  We do not want to "lie down" and trust our Good Shepherd.  We may try to "fix" the problem on our own.  But what you or I see as a bad circumstance in our life may actually be for our good.  The Lord may be trying to make some repairs in our character and in our heart.  The Lord may be operating on us spiritually to remove selfishness and arrogance or self-reliance from our lives.  The Lord is in control.  We simply need to trust Him.  We must remain teachable.  If the Lord has allowed a difficult situation in our lives, we must submit to Him and rest in Him.

Psalm 23:2 goes on to say, "He leads me besides quiet waters."  The Lord leads us like a shepherd. Jesus Christ is out in front of us today.  He is already in the future, so we need not fear the future. Our future is secure in Him.  Jesus, our Good Shepherd, is in the business of stilling the raging waters and storms of our lives and leading us by "quiet waters."  The Lord leads us to His rest.  He provides for our security, nourishment, and sense of well-being.

Sheep panic when they are around raging waters. This is because sheep can drown very easily. The Lord is our Shepherd, and He can still whatever raging waters are in our lives that cause us to panic. The Lord will still them at the right moment in in His perfect timing.  Faith is a refusal to panic; because we know that our Shepherd, Jesus, is in complete control.  He is our peace!  He is our Shepherd!